Carol Cox

Carol Cox (later known as Carol Cox Wait) was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - described as a "bi-partisan, educational, non-profit organization" between 1981 and July 2003.

Since 1984 she has President of Carol Cox and Associates, described in a brief profile of her as a "consulting company". [1]

While there is little publicly available information on the work of Carol Cox and Associates, one client was Philip Morris (PM).

A 1993 internal budget review document for the Philip Morris group of companies had Carol Cox with a preliminary budget allocation of $47,000. Describing the consultants work, the documents states "Carol Cox is one of the few people who understand the intricate budget process which always affects us given our vulnerabilities in excise taxes. Because of her bipartisan Board, 'Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget,' and given her "neutral" status, Carol is able to access many people who would be inaccessible to us given our issues." [2]

In a November 30, 1995 memo to Howard Liebengood from the lobbying firm, Gold & Liebengood, in which she warned that "one of the greatest dangers the company faces is an excise tax increase tied to increases in health care costs - especially health care costs for the lederly ... We think that there is greater danger, however, lurking down the road. We think the no-new taxes ethos is so intense this year that the budget negotiatiors are unlikely to recomend an excise tax/Medicare trade-off". [3]

"I know you have your hands full right now, and you cannot afford to ignore this year's risks, but sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves that escape from danger could prove to be temporary, that even more difficult battles may loom down the road," she wrote.

In a January 1999 memo Wait passed information on to PM from sources in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) about the prospects of the Clinton administration in recouping from the states a share of the tobacco settlement funds. [4]